Jimi Hendrix burned Monterey guitar sells at auction for £237,000

The guitar Jimi Hendrix is believed to have set alight in 1967 has been sold at auction for over £200,000.

An important part of rock history, the the black Fender Stratocaster was made famous after Hendrix set fire to it at the Monterey International Pop Festival in 1967. Although, legend has it that the guitar Hendrix was playing onstage was switched with a lesser, cheaper instrument moments before the burning.

James Wright, a manager at Hendrix’s label, previously owned the original guitar and sold it for £237,000 at auction in London on Tuesday (November 27).

Speaking to The Metro, Wright explained the origins of the story and how Hendrix only set fire to the guitar to get one over on Pete Townshend of The Who, who had smashed up his guitar earlier in the day. “Jimi asked for some lighter fuel. He wanted to outdo Pete. At the time, it was his favourite guitar and he didn’t want to ruin it.”

The tracklisting for ‘People, Hell & Angels’, the forthcoming album of previously unreleased studio recordings by Jimi Hendrix, was revealed last week. The album will be released on March 4, 2013 and features 12 ‘new’ songs, which see Hendrix experimenting with horns, keyboards, percussion and a second guitar.